"His qualities are continual every day," he said. "It's not just at this point in time. His leadership every day in the changing room is first class and he's a wonderful captain. "It's been a huge pleasure for me to work with someone I have looked at from the outside for these last 18 months.

"His status as one of the leading players in the world for the last number of years, he has that respect.

"You have seen from his performances he has still has that quality in his game. He's a guy who steps up in the big moments in games, like when we needed something special the other night he stepped up and scored."

Rodgers also rejected talk that Liverpool are a one-man team in Luis Suarez, who is the Premier League's top scorer with 28 goals.

He pointed to the contribution of Gerrard, Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho as proof that they are not dependent on the Uruguayan's goals.

"It was said the other night if we didn't have Luis Suarez's goals, we'd be mid-table, which is quite disrespectful to the other players because at various times we have had Luis out and we've won games," he said.

"We've had Steven out and we've won games, we've had Coutinho out and won games, we've had Sturridge out and won games, so what we're building here is the collective.

"So actually when Luis was playing the team finished eighth and seventh, so it's not just about one player. It's about creating a collective spirit and quality to our game and that's what we've done."